OLYMPIA: Education, Fires, Mental Health Biggest Areas of Focus; More Work to Be Done

April 15--Lawmakers representing the state 19th and 20th legislative districts on Thursday provided an overview of what the Legislature accomplished, and what it failed to complete, during the recent session while providing a look into what needs to get done next year.

Five of the six legislators from the districts -- both of which cover portions of Lewis County and surrounding areas -- discussed education, mental health, budgets, fires and other issues at the Lewis Economic Development Council luncheon at the Holiday Inn Express in Chehalis.

State Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-Chehalis, was the only lawmaker from the districts not in attendance.

Education

While some work was done for education, lawmakers noted funding kindergarten through 12th grade as required under the McCleary decision will take the spotlight next year.

Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview, said he wished more work had been done this session on McCleary.

"I think what we did is we just made a plan to make a plan," Takko said about work done this year.

Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, said he also thinks the Legislature at least needed to try harder to address McCleary this year.

However, the bill passed this session will hopefully give lawmakers better data to calculate the cost, he said.

"No question about it, next year is going to be all about K12," Braun said.

Rep. JD Rossetti, D-Longview, who is also a Longview School District board member, said he thinks the state has a long way to go on levy reform.

"I think the best way to do that is for all of us in rural areas ... to not have to pay as much in levies," Rossetti said, noting property owners in rural districts pay $3 to $4 for every $1 urban property owners pay.

Takko also noted teacher retention issues, and that the Legislature didn't address beginning teacher pay.

If the state wants good teachers, Takko said, pay for new teachers needs to be increased.

Braun noted funding was added to the operating budget for mentoring and para educators, but there's more work to be done.

Fires

The Legislature used about $190 million from the so-called rainy day fund to pay for last year's wildfires.

Braun said the fires were clearly emergencies and the fund allowed the state to pay for the blazes.

He had hoped lawmakers would have made more progress on fires because, he said, the state needs a better long-term approach than paying $190 million.

"Unfortunately that's probably something we're going to have to address more and more as climate changes and we see more and more drier summers," Takko said.

Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, said federal forest lands are a "nightmare," and he and Blake will be working to influence Congress to do more forest health work.

Mental Health

Funding was allocated to mental health in the operating budget. Braun said funds went to Western State Hospital for a geriatric ward and toward decreased ward size.

Takko noted $8 million was also allocated in the capital budget.

Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen, said he signed onto a bill focused on preventing suicide. The bill was passed, but not fully funded.

"It's a start. ... It's a critical issue, it affects all of us," Blake said.

State Troopers

Washington State Patrol trooper pay was a big issue this session, said state Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama. There are about 110 open trooper positions with many more eligible for retirement.

Comparing trooper pay to law enforcement salaries for Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver and other cities, its sometimes $10,000 to $15,000 less annually.

"We are losing troopers to some of these other police forces around the state," Orcutt said.

Last year, troopers got a 7 percent boost and this year lawmakers passed legislation to give troopers an 8 percent increase.

Operating Budget

In February, the revenue forecast showed a reduction of about $300 million compared to the previous predictions. Lawmakers had to address that, said Braun, a key budget negotiator, as well as other issues, such as last year's fires.

"Those add up to a pretty big challenge. How do you do that without major changes in the underlying budget?" Braun said.

Ultimately, he said lawmakers addressed the budget and did a lot of good things, such as keeping investments in education, state college tuition reduction and mental health investments.

He said while it's difficult to look four years out when building the operating budget, it ensures the fiscal discipline and sustainability.

Reserves, even after paying for fires, will have about $1.2 to $1.3 billion at the end of the year, the highest in state history, Braun said.

TransAlta Tax Incentive

Blake noted he introduced a bill in the House similar to a bill Braun reintroduced this year to provide a tax incentive to TransAlta to transition from coal to natural gas.

"Strategically I wanted to partner with (Braun) and introduce a House bill," Blake said, adding that he thought Braun's bill may have issues when it entered the Democratic House.

Neither bill passed.

Orcutt said an effort to pass a tax incentive bill for TransAlta will be made again next year.

"I stand very, very firm on tax incentives because we know they bring jobs here," Orcutt said.

Flooding

Beyond DeBolt's bill creating the Office of the Chehalis Basin, which the Legislature passed, lawmakers didn't do much work on flooding as the state Department of Ecology works on the Environmental Impact Statement for the basin.

Rossetti said he thinks creating the office was a good step, but the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority needs to be in agreement for how it wants to move forward. The study is considering alternatives for a flooding solution: do nothing; build a flood retention facility; build walls, levees and berms along I-5; or use natural features including wood and vegetation to store and slow the flow of water.

"The important thing is that we take all four seriously that we do a no-kidding look at all four," Braun said.

He said the funding for the solution, which will likely be between $500 million and $600 million, which could come from the capital budget overtime or through a bill from the Washington Waters Task Force that DeBolt co-chairs.

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